m—— 
of the British Flora of Sir J. E. Smith. 441 
** sive Cracca major” to the name, and substituting the very block 
of Dodoens's Cracce primum genus, which is generally supposed 
to be Vicia angustifolia ; and from the breadth of the leaflets I 
have been induced to refer to it as such, notwithstanding that 
the pods are solitary. 
Lyte in his Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plants, 1578, which 
isa translation of a French version of the Cruydeboeck of Do- 
doens, has this plant: the figure it is true is not very good, 
and is the same as Turner in his Herball, 1568, puts for the 
cultivated Vetch; yet his description leaves no doubt on the 
subject: **Arachus is much lyke to the Common Vetche, in 
stalkes, leaves, and coddes, but in all these much lesse. The 
` stalkes be tender, weake. and slender, with cornered trayles or 
square crested edges. "The leaves are spread abroade like the 
other Vetche, but cloven and parted above at the endes, into 
two or three clasping tendrelles. The flowers be smal, of a 
light purple, or incarnate colour, and do growe uppon the 
stalke selfe, as the flowers of beanes or common Vetches do, 
without any foote stalkes. The coddes be small, long and nar- 
rowe, wherein is couched sixe or seven seedes of a blackishe 
colour, harde and smaller than Vetches.” 
John Bauhin observes: ** A Viciá sativa semine potissimum 
differre videtur, quód admodàm parvum et rotundum, copi- 
osum (ad octona eximere memini) in siliquis angustioribus, lon- 
gioribus, magisque teretibus, quàm vicie sepium, minus hir- 
sutis et fer glabris, que sicce nigrescunt." 
Ray says: ** Hujus speciem seu varietatem majorem obser- 
vavimus (ego et D. Dale) in marginibus agrorum quorundam 
supra molam fullonicam Bockinge in Essexia." What this is T 
know not. Then follows in another paragraph, copied from his 
edition of 1690, in which the discovery of the large variety is 
not noticed: **Vicie sative similis est; flores habet pulchre 
: 312 purpureos, 
